Faustina Cuevas is originally from Boston, Massachusetts. She has ethnic roots in the Dominican Republic, which is something she is extremely proud about. She grew up in a loving, single-parent home until she was 17. Faustina then went to college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she did her undergraduate and graduate degree. There was something about who she was even as a young child that she knew would lead her to this point. She has always been good at working and communicating with other people. Even as a kid, Faustina would run up to strangers wanting to talk to them. She is an extrovert and a people person, so she knew from a young age that she wanted to work with people. Faustina feeds off other people's energy to do the work that she does, and what a good group to work with: college age students who have so much energy to give!
The Journey Begins
After getting my master's degree in higher education, I became a hall director at the University of Connecticut. I found that working as a hall director got old very fast, but I knew I wanted to work in a college setting. I decided that I wanted to do something where I was able to support students and help them with their career. After asking current academic advisors what they enjoyed about their job, I realized I was doing something very similar by working as a hall director. I was already making those connections about what was happening in students' lives and how those things were affecting their academics. That's when I realized academic advising would be a perfect job for me.
Once I moved to Minnesota with my partner, I started searching for jobs where I could be an academic advisor, and then this job at the University of Minnesota in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) opened up. I love CEHD and continue to love it, and I thought to myself, "This is perfect. This couldn't get anymore perfect." I took this job and I have been working here ever since. This was a huge risk for me coming to Minnesota because I don't have any family here, but it allowed me to meet new people and push myself out of my comfort zone.
As an academic advisor, I feel as though I have many roles. When working with students, I feel that I act as a mentor, counselor, advisor, mediator, and advocate. I try to advocate for students with whatever they need. For example, if they need me to intervene because they feel uncomfortable communicating to an instructor about something, I will offer to contact the instructor or give other options to the student. I try to act as a mentor whenever I can, whether that is about graduate school, current academics, or social life. Through these roles, I also work to support students in other ways beyond their academics.
Life Beyond Work
Sometimes, this job becomes so personal that it gets hard to step away from work. For example, it's very hard to detach myself when a student is emailing me in crisis over the weekend. Usually, I check my email once over the weekend to make sure that nothing urgent is going on. When working with people it is important to take them for who they are, and that is why it is so hard to separate my personal life from my work life. I believe that relationships are important, and if I constantly meet with students only in my office, it creates this dynamic where students feel they can't talk to me in other settings. Because of this, I try to and love to engage with students outside of the office. I want my students to know that I am a normal person and I am more than willing to meet with them at a coffee shop or somewhere else besides my office. One of the most fulfilling parts of my job is when I am able to interact with students on a more personal level. I love being able to talk to my students about their future and positive things, such as acing a test, getting a job, or looking ahead towards grad school. When students share these positive things with me, I feel as though I was able to help them get somewhere whether it was just listening to what they had to say or supporting them along the way.
Not only do I have the ability to impact students' lives, but students are able to impact my life in a positive way as well. This job has really taught me that you never know what someone's going through and you really cannot judge a book by it's cover. Once you actually live it, it becomes very real. I try to really get to meet people and learn about them in order to see who they are and what they bring to the table. It's been really cool to challenge all the stereotypes I have been built and trained with, and I have been able to dismantle some of those in mind. Being an academic advisor has allowed me to be a better version of myself.
Benefits of My Work
My favorite part of my job is certainly my students! I love meeting with students and being able to see how much passion they have for the field they want to go into. I am constantly amazed by the different stories students have as to why they are choosing a certain career path. I have had students that want to go into special education because they have a sibling with autism, or students that had an amazing teacher in their lives and want to be an elementary teacher in order to share the wealth. I also had a student that wanted to start a non-restricted homeless shelter that provides endless amenities and support to homeless people. Hearing all of those stories about what students want to do and how they want to change the world is really cool. I am constantly in this learning environment where I am able to learn about so many new things. Being around people that are constantly learning, I feel like I am constantly learning, too. I believe that students are going to be the game changers of the world, and I love being able to see them get started towards their futures.
I am really inspired by the resiliency that my students show through their academics and their lives in general. Some stories that students share are hard for me to believe sometimes. I have students that are bullied. We're in college... people are still bullying? We're talking about eighteen, nineteen, twenty year old people, and that is still happening? Those students that continue through and don't let defeat be an option are what really inspire me. These type of people are why I am here and why my students have inspired me so much. These people need someone to tell them that they matter and that they belong here. If I can be that for someone, then I'm going to be that. The ability of students to continue learning and not let anything hold them back drives the work that I am doing and keeps me motivated to come back each day. This is the thing that I take with me from my work. It's the personal information that is shared with me and really helps me bond with them, and that is why I am inspired to help anyone I can.
Finding My Calling
I believe that working with people and advising is my calling, but I would like to accomplish this in a different form someday. I love working as an academic advisor, but sometime in the future, I am planning on going to grad school to earn my PhD and become a faculty member. I believe that faculty members also advise students, but not as directly as an academic advisor does. They advise students on how to do well in the class and ways to be most effective. I am here as an academic advisor and I want to continue to do this work. I just want to do it in a way where I am both teaching and advising students on careers, possibilities, and opportunities to grow. I believe that giving advice and working with students is what I am called to do, and that is why I believed academic advising would be a perfect start for my career.
Taking Risks
You have to take opportunities. One thing I would take away from all of this is to never pass up opportunities. Gambling is scary, and that's why a lot of people don't do it, but I think you need to take risks in order to discover what's out there. This was a huge risk for me coming to Minnesota and taking this job, considering I had no family anywhere close to here and had no idea what this job would look like. I never thought I would be a risk taker because I'm generally not. Once I started taking risks in my life, it started paying off. It has forced me to meet new people and step outside of my comfort zone. In the long run, you will get much farther in life if you push yourself to do the uncommon thing. Try new things, try to challenge yourself, and be uncomfortable. You will benefit from it!
Story Facilitators: Jayden Roehl, Taylor Guckeen, Jude Ghangha
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